Division Of Plant

Sal Alfieri Jr., director of the Florida Department of Agriculture's division of plant industry, which combats plant pests and diseases, has been selected to receive the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Honor Award for 1985. Alfieri will receive the award at the association's convention on Oct. 28 in Atlantic City, N.J. Alfieri became director in 1983, just as the division of plant industry was battling the Mediterranean fruit fly in Miami and concerned about ethylene dibromide pollution.

Starting today, Pinellas County residents are forbidden to remove fruit and vegetables from their yards; a mandatory quarantine was imposed after the discovery of a third oriental fruit fly. State officials intend to isolate and eliminate the agricultural threat before the flies spread. ''We don't want this to get loose in the state,'' said Phyllis Habeck, spokeswoman for the Division of Plant Industry. The third fly was found Thursday in a trap in Pinellas Park. State agriculture officials now assume that there is some infestation in an area between Belleair and St. Petersburg.

An update on citrus canker will be the topic of the Sept. 9 OJ meeting for citrus growers at the Lake County Agricultural Center, Bob Norris Auditorium, near Tavares. Calvin Schoulties, head of the plant pathology section for the state division of plant industry, will give the report. The session starts at 9:30 a.m.

I think gardening up north must be a lot easier than it is in Florida. ''Up north'' to me begins in the mountains of north Georgia. And even if gardening isn't easier in Dillard, Ga., the vegetables seem to taste better up there.Maybe that is all in my mind because I've heard that during much of the year, the good restaurants in Dillard make weekly runs to Florida to pick up produce. Perhaps I'm just hungrier when I'm in the mountains.The interesting thing is that Florida ships more than just vegetables up north; northern growers also buy vegetable and tobacco plants from Florida producers.

The Florida Division of Plant Industry said canker symptoms were found on a Swingle root sprout and on Swingle and Valencia orange leaves in a Highlands County nursery. The nursery was the 17th found infected with canker since the disease surfaced in August 1984. The bacterial disease was discovered in the newly planted Lykes Citrus Management Division nursery.

A technical advisory committee has been appointed by Agriculture Commissioner Doyle Conner to determine the best course of action in dealing with the recent discovery of the Black Parlatoria Scale in Miami. It is the first time the tiny citrus pest has been found in the continental United States. The insect attaches itself to the leaves and fruit, causing premature leaf and fruit loss and general weakening of the tree. Members of the committee are: chairman Richard Clark, state Division of Plant Industry; R.C. Bullock and Fred Bennett of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences; Reed Burns, Avas Hamon, Ru Nguyen and Everett Nickerson of the Division of Plant Industry; Eddie Elder, Ralph Cooley and Charles Schwalbe of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Japanese government now will allow imports of unfumigated Florida citrus provided the fruit comes from areas designated as free of the Caribbean fruit fly. Currently, only two counties, St. Lucie and Indian River, have areas certified free of the Caribfly. Other areas can qualify by following a program established by the Florida Department of Agriculture. For copies of the requirements, write to the Division of Plant Industry, 3027 Lake Alfred Road, Winter Haven, 33880.

BUDWOOD RELEASE. Budwood from a Venezuelan red navel orange, the Cara Cara, will be released for distribution to growers beginning June 1, according to the state Agriculture Department. Limited amounts of budwood will be available to growers and nursery owners at a charge of $1 a budeye to defray costs of testing and distribution. Requests should be directed to the Division of Plant Industry, Bureau of Citrus Budwood Registation, 3027 Lake Alfred Road, Winter Haven 33881.

SPEAKING OF CITRUS. A chemical used to fight acne appears to be more effective in treating the citrus canker organism than other chemicals under study by researchers, said Calvin Schoulties, chief plant pathologist with the state Division of Plant Industry. Benzoil peroxide, commonly used in acne medications to dry blemishes, seems to do a better job than the copper sprays used to douse citrus trees exposed to the disease, he said.

Starting today, Pinellas County residents are forbidden to remove fruit and vegetables from their yards; a mandatory quarantine was imposed after the discovery of a third oriental fruit fly. State officials intend to isolate and eliminate the agricultural threat before the flies spread. ''We don't want this to get loose in the state,'' said Phyllis Habeck, spokeswoman for the Division of Plant Industry. The third fly was found Thursday in a trap in Pinellas Park. State agriculture officials now assume that there is some infestation in an area between Belleair and St. Petersburg.

-- ORNAMENTAL AGENT. Cindy Phelps has been appointed Commercial Woody Ornamental and Turf Agent for Orange and Osceola counties by the Florida Cooperative Extension Service. The industry-advisory service is operated by the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Phelps has spent the past six years as a nursery inspector for the state Division of Plant Industry. She has a bachelor of science degree in integrated pest management and plant protection from the University of Georgia and is working on a master's degree at the University of Central Florida.

BUDWOOD RELEASE. Budwood from a Venezuelan red navel orange, the Cara Cara, will be released for distribution to growers beginning June 1, according to the state Agriculture Department. Limited amounts of budwood will be available to growers and nursery owners at a charge of $1 a budeye to defray costs of testing and distribution. Requests should be directed to the Division of Plant Industry, Bureau of Citrus Budwood Registation, 3027 Lake Alfred Road, Winter Haven 33881.

''DESIGNATED'' OKAY. The Japanese have accepted a protocol that will allow shipments of fresh citrus to Japan from Florida, without chemical fumigation of the fruit to protect against the Caribbean fruit fly. But at the insistence of the Japanese, the term ''fly-free zones'' will not be used. The control areas where the protocol is implemented will be known as ''designated areas.'' Here are some of the requirements to qualify as a designated area: the area must be at least 300 acres in size and located more than three miles from any extensive plantings of Caribfly hosts such as guava, Surinam cherry, rose apple, loquat and peach.

The Japanese government now will allow imports of unfumigated Florida citrus provided the fruit comes from areas designated as free of the Caribbean fruit fly. Currently, only two counties, St. Lucie and Indian River, have areas certified free of the Caribfly. Other areas can qualify by following a program established by the Florida Department of Agriculture. For copies of the requirements, write to the Division of Plant Industry, 3027 Lake Alfred Road, Winter Haven, 33880.

JUICED. Aside from state and federal researchers, only a handful of groups have requested samples of the canker bacteria that surfaced in Florida in August 1984. Curiously, one of the groups that has shown an interest in the citrus-killing disease is the Soviet Union. Scientists there obtained a sample of the organism earlier this year for reasons unknown, said Calvin Schoulties, chief plant pathologist with the state Division of Plant Industry. Despite the bitterly cold weather there, the Russians are able to grow citrus in some parts of the country by planting trees in trenches, Schoulties said.

SPEAKING OF CITRUS. A chemical used to fight acne appears to be more effective in treating the citrus canker organism than other chemicals under study by researchers, said Calvin Schoulties, chief plant pathologist with the state Division of Plant Industry. Benzoil peroxide, commonly used in acne medications to dry blemishes, seems to do a better job than the copper sprays used to douse citrus trees exposed to the disease, he said.

An update on citrus canker will be the topic of the Sept. 9 OJ meeting for citrus growers at the Lake County Agricultural Center, Bob Norris Auditorium, near Tavares. Calvin Schoulties, head of the plant pathology section for the state division of plant industry, will give the report. The session starts at 9:30 a.m.